Status

Finalizing plan for initial improvements in Firefox 7, beginning to scope out further research for future Firefox.

Team

Product manager

Asa Dotzler

Directly Responsible Individual

Jennifer Boriss

Lead engineer

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Security lead

Jesse Ruderman, Curtis Koenig

Privacy lead

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Localization lead

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Accessibility lead

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QA lead

Henrik Skupin

UX lead

Jennifer Boriss

Product marketing lead

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Operations lead

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Additional members

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Open issues/risks

How can different trust levels of add-ons can be both determined and messaged to users appropriately?

Stage 1: Definition

1. Feature overview

The process of installing Firefox add-ons is currently fraught with user experience issues. The process involves differently-styled windows, unnecessary amounts of user interaction, and delays which users find confusing and annoying.

Our goal is to make the process of installing add-ons more efficient and smoother while (at the least) not effecting and (at the best) improving security.

This feature falls primarily in the Experience category (from the "Discover, Experience, and Connect" vision statement.)

While general improvements in efficiently and consistency are the goal, several specific issues fall under this category.

Priority 1:

Not switching windows styles during installation, and removing all modal dialogs. Currently, the verified add-on information confirmation notification is modal, while the download notification window at the beginning of the process and confirmation/restart notification at the end of the process are in the arrow panel notification style. All notifications should be moved into the arrow-panel notification style, with subtle animated resizes where needed.

Reducing the timer wait time from 3 seconds to 1, and subtly fading the install button from disabled to active state rather than displaying a countdown

Not giving the implication that AMO and AMO's reviewed code are untrusted, specifically by:

1) Removing "author not verified" messaging for trusted authors

2) Messaging reviewed add-ons differently to unreviewed add-ons and relaying the different meaningfully to users

Priority 2:

Changing the installation flow order from download-then-ask-permission to ask-permission-then-download. We currently download an add-on's .xpi file before the user is asked permission to install it. While it's roughly understandable enough for users to navigate through, the order is backwards compared to the vast majority of similar installation flows. Installing a file before asking both flies in the face of user expectation, and gives the impression at first that we will be installing an add-on without asking permission at all. This may cause users to prematurely cancel an insatllation. If we can ask the user's permission first - even with imperfect add-on data - and then download the file, we'll be following a very well expected and utilized model.

Download-then-ask-permission (current model):

Ask-permission-then-download (goal):

2. Users & use cases

Installing human-reviewed add-ons from AMO

Installing automated security review sandbox add-ons from AMO

Installing add-ons not from AMO (default buyer beware)

(possibly) Installing trusted add-ons not on AMO (e.g. AdblockPlus)

3. Dependencies

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4. Requirements

Non-goals

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Stage 2: Design

5. Functional specification

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6. User experience design

Ask permission, then download installation (ideal order)

The diagram below shows how the add-on installation would feel if we were able to ask the user's permission, with whatever add-on information was available, before downloading the .xpi file. This is far more consistent with user's expectations of giving permission before the action that they gave permission for. Obviously the information we have at the beginning of a download may be imperfect, but we should show the best information we have available and only throw a flag if there is a problem. At least on AMO, the information we display should be correct.

Download, then ask permission second installation (current but not ideal order)

This is the order of our current add-on download installation. While it's roughly understandable enough for users to navigate through, the order is backwards compared to the vast majority of similar installation flows. Installing a file before asking both flies in the face of user expectation, and gives the impression at first that we will be installing an add-on without asking permission at all. This may cause users to prematurely cancel an instllation.